I can confirm that this is great fun! :)

A government run by absolute goons.

Anyone have a relatively current mass-radius plot that they like, with real planets on models, focused on the TRAPPIST-1 (and similar planets)? So < 2 M_Earth and 1.5 R_Earth? (Or so) Thanks!!

That's right! Eccentric! Popcorn Planet! :) arxiv.org/abs/2601.00640

Wait. Wait WHAT. You can accidentally turn your lasagna into a three volt battery that melts aluminum. WHAT.

9 degrees F outside, shoveling the driveway after 10 inches of snow yesterday, outside of St. Paul, Minnesota. (With my mom.)

My mom, age 76, bought some new PJs yesterday that she saw when she wandered into Urban Outfitters. Their target demographic? If you know my mom -- young at heart -- then this is not entirely surprising. 😁

The Fortney men, now in Minnesota, saw the Avatar movie in 3D on a giant screen.

White Russian flights at brunch?! Oregon, I might never leave!

Today I've been to Phoenix, Oregon, and Milwaukee, Oregon, and St Paul, Oregon. Not very creative with their names out here.... 🤔

I hate how much I enjoyed this BIG NERD DESIGN ENERGY 🫦

My undergrad "Planetary Astrophysics" textbook is getting closer to the finish line. Does anyone know of a figure that shows (ideally) a low-res and higher-res spectrum over the same wavelength range for a *directly imaged exoplanet*? Thanks!

In high school I took a date to see Schindler's List. (I will say we knew what we were getting into. We're still friends.)

As seen on campus. ❤️

In ApJ today! Understanding the Origins of Super-puff Planets iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3... Main parts: 1) First sub-Neptune thermal evolution models to self-consistently couple to a hydrodynamic mass loss code. 2) The finding of a new XUV-driven mass-loss regime, "TEMP," for all sub-Neptunes

An 18yo US citizen, surrounded by eight masked, armed agents of the state, taken into custody, not read his rights, not offered a chance to contact a lawyer, proof of citizenship ignored, handcuffed so tightly he later required medical attention. Profoundly, profoundly anti-American shit.

As seen in Santa Cruz, vol. 241

In ApJ today, our paper on the early evolution of brown dwarfs, which combines the Sonora brown dwarf and SPHINX M dwarf atmosphere models. Check out this cool plot of giant planet, brown dwarf, and low-mass star radii over time. Work led by UCSC grad Evan Davis. iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...

New grad student. Gotta start with the basics!

Post-pandemic update achieved, just in time for 2026!!

A Trump supporter started murdering his way through an assassination list of Democratic law makers FIVE MONTHS AGO. He murdered my colleague Melissa Hortman, and her husband Mark — and attempted to assassinate my dear friend John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. I was also on the hit list. WTF

It’s Friday night. I’ve done enough this week. You’ve done enough this week.

I've always been fascinated that nearly every paper on the origin of the Moon gets published in Science or Nature. I have no criticism or critique here, I just find it interesting.... www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/s...

My most important service to solar system planetary science was being a part of the Science Definition Team (SDT), nearly a decade ago, that made the science case for an NASA Ice Giants Orbiter and Entry Probe. Check out our 2017 document: arxiv.org/abs/2511.13946

Better for you, right? Right?!

sometimes an Oxford comma can make all the difference

Kids today don't realize how often light bulbs used to burn out.

This is some crushing news for the crown jewel postdoctoral program for the University of California.

Are you applying to the University of California for fall admission as a first-year student? Don’t stress! We’ve got pointers and info straight from UC’s admissions experts. Don’t forget UC Applications are due Dec 1 🗓️💙💛 https://bit.ly/4opIggD

Farmers Market!

Glad to see this story covered by the press. I've heard from colleagues that Goddard labs are being moved/closed during the government shutdown while employees are unable to receive notification/e-mail/warnings. There's fear that they'll return after the shutdown & labs will be gone. 🔭

Hey kids, just reach inside and grab a handful, one at a time!

For when you need Manhattans for dozens of people?

Is this the year we make dreams come true? ....no.

Really important work led by @needhibhalla.bsky.social:

Oh man, watching college football is tough. These kids make a lot of mistakes!

Campus friend from earlier this week at UC Santa Cruz.

#nokings in Santa Cruz!

You know, France:

I just cut into a sausage at lunch and sprayed meat juice all over Ravit Helled's shirt. Ugh, going great...

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

Provence sunrise! Now to hear some science talks!

Pleasant breakfast companion in Provence, France. Very opinionated on exoplanets topics.

Goodnight from Provence!

On my 9-hour flight from SFO to Munich (I'm on my way to the 30th Anniversary of 51 Pegasi b meeting in Provence this week) I watched all 9 episodes of Our Friends and Neighbors! My first-ever true "binge watch," I suppose. A solid show -- hard to go wrong with Jon Hamm!

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. --John Steinbeck

For my scientific temperament I needed a field that was more controversial, more open-ended and new, where quick was useful and sloppy did not matter too much because it would all change soon anyway. --Ed Salpeter

Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law. -- Douglas Hofstadter, Gödel, Escher, Bach

📢 Don't forget to join us for this talk tomorrow (Thursday)! 13:00 UTC = 15:00 CEST = 09:00 EDT = 06:00 PDT = 22:00 JST If you haven't signed up to our mailing list to access the Zoom-link, you can also watch it live on our YouTube channel 🔭☄️🧪 #exoplanet livestream: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMr2...

I'm really excited about this one! It's fantastic working with Dr. Yayaati Chachan: arxiv.org/abs/2509.20428 "Revising the Giant Planet Mass-Metallicity Relation: Deciphering the Formation Sequence of Giant Planets" Lots of great nuggets her, including that even super-Jupiters are very metal-rich.